Just a Dream

Children's Books

VAN ALLSBURG, CHRIS

Literature & Fiction

Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co. 1990

Garden of Abdul Gasazi

Classics

Hamish Hamilton

Sometimes that very thin line between illusion and reality is not as clearly defined as we would like it to be. It certainly wasn't the day that Alan Mitz stumbled into the garden of Abdul Gasazi. For in this bizarre and eerie place -- where strange topiary trees loomed -- the evil visage of Gasazi casts its shadow. And even after Alan escaped, the spell of Gasazi still seemed to penetrate into his everyday world. In this extraordinary, unusual, and unique picture book, Chris Van Allsburg explores both the real and surreal worlds with incredible deftness. In doing so, he has created exquisite and beautiful images that will continue to haunt readers long after they have left the enchanted garden of Abdul Gasazi.

The Garden of Abdul Gasazi: A Caldecott Honor Award Winner

Animals

Clarion Books

The game under the tree looked like a hundred others Peters and Judy had at home. But they were bored and restless and, looking for something interesting to do, thought they'd give Jumanji a try. Little did they know when they unfolded its ordinary-looking playing board that they were about to be plunged into the most exciting and bizare adventure of their lives. In his second book for children, Chris Van Allsburg again explores the ever-shifting line between fantasy and reality with this story about a game that comes startingly to life. His marvelous drawings beautifully convey a mix of the everyday and the extraordinary, as a quiet house is taken over by an exotic jungle.

Jumanji

Action & Adventure

Houghton, mifflin, harcourt

On a terrifically rainy day, Ben has a dream in which he and his house float by the monuments of the world, half submerged in flood-water.

Ben's Dream

At the edge of a cliff lies the wreck of a small sailboat. How did it get there? "Waves carried it up in a storm," says an old sailor. But is it possible that waves could ever get that high? There is another story -- the story of a boy and his obsessive desire to be the greatest sailor, the story of a storm that carried the boy and his boat to a place where boats glide like gulls high above the water and not upon it. Chris Van Allsburg tells that story of the boy and his boat, the Zephyr, in words and haunting, full-color pastel paintings. His sailboats sail the night sky with the stars in pictures so vivid that the reader can almost hear the wind in the sails. Here is a work of unusual artistry that will enchant readers of all ages for many years to come.

The Wreck of the Zephyr

Fourteen black-and-white drawings, each accompanied by a title and a caption, entice readers to make up his or her own story.

The Mysteries of Harris Burdick

Arts, Music & Photography

Houghton/Mifflin

The enigmatic origins of the stranger that Farmer Bailey hits with his truck and brings home to recuperate seem to have a mysterious relation to the weather. Could he be Jack Frost?

The Stranger

A dramatic black- and- white presentation of the alphabet in which the three-time Caldecott medalist depicts a mysterious transformation of each letter.

The Z Was Zapped: A Play in Twenty-Six Acts

Note: Page 1 is the full title page, Page 2 is the copyright, Page 3 is the half title page. Page 4 is the first page of the story. The three-time Caldecott medalist tells the tale of two ants who decide to leave the safety of the others to venture into a danger-laden kitchen.

Two Bad Ants

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Books by VAN ALLSBURG, CHRIS